The port city of Arteixo in Galicia, northwestern Spain. Here, where the rough winds of the Atlantic reach, is the headquarters of Inditex, the global fashion group that runs the SPA (manufacturing and distribution integration) brand Zara. Modern buildings blend with green spaces around Zara's sales and design center, which spans the size of 24 soccer fields (170,000 square meters), evoking a Silicon Valley tech campus.
Inditex built a "fashion empire" by vertically integrating inventory management for about 5,500 stores worldwide on its proprietary information technology (IT) platform. In the "2025 future readiness indicator" released last year by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) of Switzerland, it surpassed Hermès to rank second in the fashion institutional sector after Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH). It shot up from 13th in 2022. Economy Chosun visited Inditex headquarters on Mar. 2 (local time below) to see innovation in action.
◇ An office without partitions, building a horizontal ecosystem
Entering the headquarters, there was a clear sense of openness. In the office where more than 4,000 employees work, there wasn't a single common cubicle. Under natural light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, designers and sales staff moved about, exchanging views. An Inditex official said, "We created an office without partitions so all departments can communicate freely," noting, "It reflects the philosophy of founder Amancio Ortega, and aims for a self-sufficient ecosystem that connects the entire process horizontally from design to logistics."
This communication structure was also evident in the e-commerce organization that runs Zara.com. A large dashboard in the center of the office displayed the movements of customers worldwide in real time. The number of users by country, rankings of popular products, and the status of items added to carts and payments were updated every three minutes. The data did not remain just numbers; they immediately fed into decisions.
◇ The secret to new products landing in stores twice a week
Zara releases new products twice every week. In effect, it runs more than 100 "mini seasons" annually. That contrasts with the fashion industry's typical four seasonal drops. The secret lies in vertical integration that unifies production, distribution, and sales, and a just-in-time supply manufacturing method.
According to the industry, Zara releases about 20,000 product designs annually. For half of the total volume, it confirms designs after assessing trend shifts and gets them into stores within two to three weeks. Even if an item is popular, it does not produce additional runs. Instead, it introduces another model with slight variations. An Inditex official said, "Customers want to wear clothes different from others. Currently, 50% of the spring and summer volume has been produced, and the rest will be decided based on customer response."
Inditex produces more than half of its volume in Spain and neighboring countries and centrally manages it at 11 logistics centers in Spain. To release new products twice a week, it even uses air shipping when necessary.
It may appear inefficient, but the company said this strategy actually delivers the highest efficiency. Thanks to the nimble production system, it secures the agility to modify and refine products even mid-season. This applies equally across Inditex's eight brands, including Zara as well as Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, and Lefties.
◇ The secret to a 0.6% inventory rate, "Inditex Open Platform"
Inditex's competitiveness is borne out in numbers. Last year, Inditex's unsold inventory rate after the season ended was 0.6%. That means all but six out of 1,000 pieces were sold on time. Considering the industry average inventory rate is 10% to 20%, it is a remarkable figure. While sales in the 2025 fiscal year increased 3.2%, inventories actually fell 0.7%. Thanks to selling at full price, the gross margin reached 58.3%.
At the core of the "low inventory, high efficiency" structure is the in-house integrated supply chain system, the Inditex Open Platform (IOP). Introduced in 2018, IOP consolidates in real time the processes of inventory, purchasing, distribution, and orders across more than 5,500 stores and online channels worldwide. Through radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips attached to garments, it identifies inventory status anywhere and forecasts demand. This data analysis is not used in isolation; it operates alongside qualitative analysis of trends and the commercial intuition of some 700 designers.
An Inditex official said, "The top priority in developing IOP was to secure technological independence by not being tied to specific technologies through an agnostic multi-model architecture," adding, "By adopting a microservices structure, we built platform competitiveness that flexibly responds to each department's detailed requirements without overhauling the entire system."
IOP is also helping the group grow its sustainability. Félix Poza, deputy director-general of sustainability, said, "Inditex's business model itself fundamentally blocks overproduction," adding, "With artificial intelligence (AI) and technological tools layered on, efficiency is being maximized." Inditex aims to achieve carbon neutrality (net zero, a state in which net carbon emissions are "0") by 2040.
◇ From virtual fitting to logistics robots… AI that elevates the customer experience
Technology is woven tightly throughout the customer experience. In the e-commerce logistics center, as soon as an order arrives, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and a multi-shuttle system retrieve products, and folding clothes and assembling boxes are automated. People focus on delicate tasks like wrapping garments in paper and placing them in boxes.
Late last year, Zara introduced a generative AI-based "virtual fitting (Try-On)" service on its online mall. Some analyses suggest the service has lowered the return rate by around 10%. Tiziana Pandolfi, Zara's head of e-commerce, said, "The goal of virtual fitting is not to show off technology but to make shopping easier and more enjoyable for customers," adding, "We are preparing a second-stage version that shows how the fit changes by size, even for the same item."
Going forward, a conversational assistant like ChatGPT will also be installed on the Zara online mall. All of the group's AI strategies are pursued under the principles of "scalability, security, and technological independence."
In the 2025 fiscal year, Inditex posted record results with sales of 39.9 billion euros (about 68 trillion won) and net profit of 6.2 billion euros (about 10 trillion won). But the members we met in Arteixo emphasized an "attitude of innovation" over technology. Raúl Estradera, chief communications officer (CCO), said, "From the very beginning, we started with a 'disruptive idea' in fashion distribution and have applied the latest technologies to the business model," adding, "Innovation is our very way of being."
On Mar. 3, founder Amancio Ortega of Inditex, whom we encountered in a corridor at headquarters, was on a call, unconcerned with the looks around him. Without a tip from an employee, his modest demeanor would have made it hard to recognize the "chairman king" who built the Zara empire. After founding Zara in 1975, he handed the chairmanship to his youngest daughter, Marta Ortega, in 2021, yet as the largest shareholder with a 59% equity stake, he still reports to the partition-free office and serves as the group's spiritual anchor.
Born the son of a railway worker, he began working life at 14 as a delivery boy for a shirt store. Then he witnessed inefficiencies in apparel production and distribution, and in 1975 opened the first Zara in A Coruña, Spain, applying the SPA business model.
His management philosophy is summed up as "fashion democratization" and "silent management." He invested in store locations and logistics over advertising and focused on products and customers rather than flashy imagery. He usually does not wear a tie and eats with employees in the cafeteria, and he did not grant a single interview until the 2001 listing. Even after listing, he kept media exposure to an absolute minimum. As of 2026, his estimated assets are 110 billion to 120 billion euros (about 188 trillion to 205 trillion won). Alongside LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, he is one of Europe's leading tycoons and Spain's richest person.